From Shadow
by James-393
Summary: What if, when the war goes terribly wrong, Harry has enough? He seeks out Voldemort for one last stand. A suicide mission. But since when does Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, life go to plan? So why would his death be any different... A/U, TimeTravelFic, Dark Harry
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: ****Harry Potter does not belong to me, anything you recognise isn't mine, anything you do not, is :-) **

**A/N ****The first chapter of my rewrite, a drastic change from the beginning of the original story I tell you! Hopefully this will turn out better than it did originally, let me know your thoughts?**

**.:Text:. = **Parseltongue  
_Itallics _= Spells

**From Shadow**

Harry Potter, once known throughout the whole of Magical Britain as the boy who lived, sat alone in a large, empty room. If somebody had told him at the age of seventeen that this would be where he spent the vast majority of his current life, he would have laughed at them and had them sent to St Mungo's. For at this very moment, in the year 2015, he found himself seated at the head of the long table that once made up the section heads of the Order of the Phoenix; a Vigilante organisation set up by the late Albus Dumbledore during the Great Wizarding War of 1939-1945 to combat the threat of one Gellert Grindelwald. However, upon his defeat another dark wizard emerged eager to take his place as Dark Lord: A young man by the name of Tom Marvolo Riddle. Over the years, he fashioned himself a new identity and became the most feared dark wizard of the age, and so the Order was recreated in order to combat this new threat.

However, this wizard was not to be so easily defeated: Since his first uprising began in the 1970's, Voldemort, as Tom Riddle became known, killed hundreds if not thousands of wizards and muggles in his quest for power. Now, Harry was all that remained between Voldemort, and his total control over magical Britain. The rest of the Order had been killed off over the years by the Dark Lord and his servants the Death Eaters, until there was only a handful of the senior members left. And so, to protect the resistance, the Order's leadership banded together, and sought a new headquarters, and so they found one. A location so crazy, that nobody believed Voldemort would ever think to attack it: Azkaban.

They had no idea how wrong they were.

Five years after they first arrived at the isle, one of the leaders, a battle hardened Neville Longbottom, was captured by the Dark Lord's forces and tortured until he revealed the location and names of each Order leader. Once Voldemort heard, he summoned his forces to his new base of power at the ruined Ministry of Magic, and launched an all out assault on Azkaban Isle. Hundreds of witches and wizards were killed that day, decimating the Death Eater ranks, but also all but wiping out the last of the resistance against Voldemort. The only man not to be killed that day, was the then 30 year old Harry Potter, who was out on a mission in the United States, attempting to find international aid to combat the dark wizard. When he arrived back at the ex-prison, he was met with the sight of his friends and colleagues bodies in various states of damage; from blissfully unblemished, to ripped into almost indiscernible pieces, it was a bloodbath.

From that day on, Harry Potter delved further into the dark arts than any except perhaps Voldemort and Morgana herself, looking for a way in which to end the Dark Lord's existence once and for all. Three years into his research, he discovered what he had been searching for: how Voldemort had maintained his life force even after being defeated at the Battle of Hogwarts. His research told him of a ritual that would change the effects of a horcrux, meaning that upon being destroyed they are simply transferred into the original hosts body once more. Using this, one who created enough horcruxes to fracture their soul so much that the regular method for reabsorbing the portions became impossible, would be able to continue to exist as a wraith-like being after death not dissimilar to the form caused by the horcruxes themselves. The being would then be able to regenerate over time until finally developing a corporeal body of its own once more.

Armed with this knowledge, he set about devising methods to totally obliterate what was left of the Dark Lord's form, searching for well over a year before once more having a eureka moment; something so impossibly crazy, that nobody would ever be able to try it. But Harry Potter is no regular person, and he no longer had anything to lose. So he began to plan his final mission, bring down Voldemort at all costs, and take down as many Death Eaters as he can with him.

After surveying the main hall of Castle Azkaban one last time, he disappeared without a sound, leaving no evidence that anybody had ever stepped inside the main hall after the prison first fell.

* * *

Reappearing in the once grand village of Little Hangleton, he stood and once more considered his life and all of the pain he had gone through, before his face set and his stance hardened.

Raising his holly and phoenix feather wand towards the sky, he muttered an incantation that had been seldom heard since the fall of the Ministry: '_Morsmorde'_

And with a burst of light, a large spectral face appeared in the sky, a snake appearing from out of it's mouth and slithering around the sky.

He began to countdown in his head:

_10  
9  
8  
7  
6  
5  
4  
3  
2  
1_

All at once, over a hundred pops and cracks could be heard as Death Eaters and Aurors alike apparated into the village to hunt for the one who dared to conjure their Lord's mark. Upon spotting the culprit, the lead Death Eater in the group called out.

'Harry Potter! The Minister of Magic has decreed that for crimes of High Treason, Murder, Theft, Terrorism and countless charges of other more minor crimes, you are to be executed on sight, do you have any last words?'

'Just two...' Harry called back '_Avada Kedavra!'_

A green light left his wand and sailed towards the masked leader who simply summoned a lesser DE into it's path. 'Kill Him!' he cried.

At his words, it was as if somebody had flipped a switch and hundreds of curses of varying power and effect flew towards Harry. Instead of running or hiding as the small army had hoped, he simply raised his arms and created a golden magical shield that absorbed each and every curse thrown. The army looked on in shock as Harry dropped the shield and moved a stray strand of hair out of his face

'That the best you can do?!' With another wave of his wand, he summoned forth wave after wave of _Fiendfyre _and sent it towards the large group. After only just two minutes, all that remained was a handful of Voldemort's most trained fighters who had managed to work together to prevent their deaths. As they regained awareness of their location, Harry began to walk towards them, batting away the curses that they sent at him as if they were flies. As he reached each one in turn, he flicked his wand at them and they fell to the ground, their internal organs frozen in place.

Upon reaching the leader, he halted. Deciding to have a little fun, he allowed the man to climb to his feet and bowed. Seeing what Harry was doing, the Death Eater also bowed before adopting a traditional pureblood stance. They both stood staring for a moment, before the leader swung his wand forward and let out a bone breaker curse aimed at Harry's arm. Harry simply pivoted out of the way before returning fire with his own entrails expelling hex.

'So it would appear you've changed Potter, who would have thought Dumbledore's golden boy would resort to using dark magic!' goaded the leader, as he flicked his wand forwards '_Crucio!'_

'War changes everything, even an idiot knows that, although I wouldn't have expected it to change you this much old friend' replied Harry as we waved his wand at the still masked Death Eater, hurtling him backwards whilst causing his wand to fly out of his hand.

Before the Death Eater had even landed, Harry was walking towards him, both wands in hand. As he reached the fallen leader, he snapped the captured wand in half and threw it to the floor. 'Don't want you trying anything tricky now do we' Harry muttered.

He reached down, and pulled off the leader's mask, throwing it to the ground

'Now then Mr Wood, your arm if you will?'

Oliver Wood simply sat there and glared at him, crossing his arms as he did so.

'Very well' Harry sighed '_Imperio!'_

Harry watched as the curse took hold and Wood's eyes glazed over 'I'll ask again, your arm, if you would?'

Wood presented his arm forward, Dark Mark revealed for all to see. Harry pressed his wand into the mark, summoning Voldemort to his location.

Within seconds a black cloud appeared, and when it dissipated it left behind the main target of Harry's assault: Dark Lord, and all around mass murderer Tom Riddle.

'At least we meet again Harry Potter' Hissed Tom 'It has been a while since I've had somebody worthy to duel against'

'Sorry to disappoint you Tom, but I'm not here to duel, I'm here to kill you, and yes, I've found a way to do so.'

'Try all you will Harry, we both know I will be victorious!'

**.:Hellfire:.**

A ring of fire appeared around Voldemort and Harry, trapping them within

**.:Holy Water:.**

A dome of water caputured the fire within it and surrounded the air above the duo, as Voldemort stood, watching the magic occur with a glint of amazement in his crimson eyes

'What do you plan to achieve with this parselmagic Potter? It won't work against me!' Screamed Voldemort, firing a killing curse towards Harry who simply batted it away with the palm of his hand 'Impossible' he muttered, shocked at the display of power.

**.:** **Praemium Magicis Triticum:.**

And Harry began to float towards the centre of the dome, a golden light appeared around him, and radiated to fill the dome with it's glow. Then, suddenly the dome of water, ring of fire, and the two occupants were gone, leaving no trace of their existence other than a smoking crater, and ashes billowing in the wind.


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: ****Harry Potter does not belong to me, anything you recognise isn't mine, anything you do not, is :-) **

For the first time since he had first delved into the Dark Arts, Harry Potter was scared. His plan hadn't worked, he shouldn't be able to think or feel, and yet he could. This meant one of two things: either he messed up the spells or, the more likely outcome, the universe had decided he shouldn't be able to fix everything that easily, and messed up his plans for him.

As he opened his eyes, he was instantly blinded by the sheer brightness surrounding him. It was at this moment that he heard voices. Not just any voices, but voices he recognised.

Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Molly, Arthur, Remus, Tonks... Everybody he had known and befriended throughout his life was crowding round him, with the exception of the three people he really wanted to see... 'Where are they?' He wondered allowed

However before anybody could answer his question, they appeared. Dressed in simple white robes, the three figures materialised in a white light that rapidly faded. Before anybody had chance to utter a single word, Harry launched himself at the figures, holding on for dear life as tears began to stream down his face.

'Hush there Harry, everything is alright now, it's going to be okay, you're safe.' spoke a female voice.

'Your mother's right son, you did it, you saved the world...' added Harry's long dead father, James Potter.

'But at what cost Dad?' replied Harry

'Well, that is why we weren't here when you first woke up' said Sirius 'We've been in meetings with other great witches and wizards of the ages; Merlin, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, Dumbledore.. You get the picture. Anyway, it was decided that when you arrived, you would be given a choice. You can continue your existence here in the afterlife with us... Or, you can go back and change everything for the better. Make sure none of this ever happens, and that the world is saved both from Voldemort, and itself.'

'What.. What are you saying Padfood..?'

'We want you to go back Harry... back to before the war, before Hogwarts, back to your childhood. We want you, to change history for the better and make sure everybody gets a fair go at life. Whatever it takes, you can do... We know you can do it Harry, but the question is, do you want to?'

'But, what about you guys, will I lose you? Will I ever see you again..?'

'Again, in our meeting it was decided that myself, Remus, Tonks, your Mother and your Father would also go back with you, inhabiting the bodies of our past selves. This is so we will be able to give you all the help you need in changing what is to be. Now, the question you must be asking yourself is how can your mum and dad go back when they're dead?'

At this Harry nodded

'Well, I'm sure that by now you're familiar with the ritual Voldemort used to return to his corporeal form the first time? As I'm also sure you're aware of how much more potent that ritual would have been had he had two different ingredients'

'The Philosophers Stone and blood willingly given...' muttered Harry

'Correct... Now, I know that you have delved deep into the Darkest of Arts, and that you would do anything to see your family alive again. Are you sure that you would be willing to perform true Necromancy...?'

'Like you said Padfoot, whatever it takes..'

As soon as he said this, his mother once again pulled him in tightly, cuddling him as hard as she could. 'Oh my poor baby' she whispered 'I know it's hard, but what you're about to do is a very brave thing, and we are all so proud of you. We'll be with you as soon as we can, and then we can finally be together as a family, a proper family' A single tear rolled down her cheek.

'Now son..' began James 'It's probably best to do this now, before you get too attached to anybody again. Long story short, the reason you are here right now and not dead, is that you are the Master of Death. That's not just some fancy title, it means you really do have the power over the dead. It's the reason you're able to do this at all. Right, what you need to do, is concentrate your magic within you, and conjure a golden knife. Yes that'll do nicely!' He took the knife out of Harry's outstretched hand. 'Lily if you'd like to continue this, it was your planning and crafting that makes this work after all'

'Baby, what's going to happen, is everybody who is coming back with you will cut their hand with the knife, and paint a rune in the air. This will bind them to the charm. Once the five of us have done that, you will need to take the knife and do the same, creating the sixth point in the circle, and the portal frame will be complete. Next, you will need to stand within the rune circle, and let your magic flow into the six runes. Once you can feel yourself connected, look at them. They should all glow faintly. So if you would like to do that now?'

Harry drew the knife across the palm of his hand, without pain blood started to flow freely from the wound. 'How is it that we can bleed if we are already dead?' He pondered aloud

'It's not really blood' replied Sirius 'It's magic, in its purest form, it is what sustains our consciousness in this place between the realms of living and dead.'

'Oh' responded Harry dumbly 'Okay' He then proceeded to paint the final rune into the circle, following his mother's instruction to an incredible level of accuracy. He strode into the circle, and began to concentrate, feeling his magical core and allowing the power to flow out of him, and into the runes surrounding him. As he once more opened his eyes, the runes glowed with the faint red of his magic.

'Okay now Harry, using runes as a magical stabiliser complicates the magic slightly. You could probably create a portal using pure intent right now, but thats not what we want. Reason being, you would have no control over when and where you ended up, and you could simply rip the time space continuum apart. Not a good plan. So what you're going to do, is focus on your arrival point, which I would advise to be a short while before you turned 11. Then, I want you to say the incantation, out loud!, _Foribus Vicis, _does that make sense?'

'Perfect' replied Harry '_Foribus Vicis!'_

With his words, a swirl of magic appeared on the outer edges of the runes, before twirling and swirling closer into the circle, eventually reaching Harry's motionless body, and rocketing upwards. The crowd of people watching this were blown backwards, all apart from the ones due to go back in time. Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Lily and James were all held in suspense, motionless in time. As the whirlwind of magic began to disappear, so did the five. Until eventually, nothing remained.

A/N Second chapter done, a different variation on the time travel method I hope? Anyways, read and review if you like the story, or even if not, pass on your comments and any possible improvements you may have! Thanks!


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer:Harry Potter does not belong to me, anything you recognise isn't mine, anything you do not, is :-)

For the second time in recent events, Harry found himself surrounded by darkness. It was at that moment that he realised that he hadn't just been imagining his time between worlds again, it had really happened!  
He clicked his fingers, conjuring a ball of light in the centre of the small space he was in, when he realised he was once more unable to see properly. Reaching around for a few moments, he discovered his glasses on a shelf next to his 'bed' and placed them on. Gazing around, he took in the view of his old 'room' before the sending of his Hogwarts letters: The Cupboard under the Stairs.

Mere minutes after awaking, he jolted as he heard footsteps coming down from above him. He quickly waved his hand, dismissing the conjured light before hastily removing his glasses and once more lying down on his cot. Seconds later, the door to his 'room' was yanked open revealing the tall form of his Aunt Petunia 'Come on you lazy boy!' she scolded 'Get out of bed and make yourself useful for a change, make your uncle's and cousins' breakfasts!' With that she walked away, heading into the kitchen herself to turn the oven on before sitting down at the kitchen table. Harry picked up his glasses from where he placed them, and crawled out of the cramped space.  
He stretched before heading into the kitchen and retrieving a frying pan and some bacon rashers. After a few minutes he'd finished preparing the non-magical side of his family's breakfast and decided to add a little magic of his own. Making sure nobody was looking, he waved his hand over the pan placing a magical paralysis curse and veritaserum enchantment on the meat. He placed the meat onto slices of bread and brought the sandwiches over to his family, who then began to wolf them down as he knew they would.

Moments later, they froze in what they were doing, stood up, and their bodies became rigid, trapping them where they stood.

'Boy!' rasped his Uncle 'What freakishness have you done to us?! I've told you about this, are the beatings not enough to teach you that it is unacceptable?!'

'Now now Uncle' replied Harry darkly 'I don't think you're in any position to threaten me. No, I do believe it would be in your best interests to answer my questions; which thanks to the truth enchantment placed on your food, you'll have no choice in doing!'

The three Dursleys whimpered in fear, dreading what was to come.

'First thing's first, why have you not told me the truth about my parents?'

'We were ordered not to!' Petunia almost screamed 'That old meddler Dumbledore forbade me from telling you, promised that I'd regret it if I did! Not that I would have anyway, it would make you feel special, as if you were better than the rest of us! You're not, you're just a freak!' she spat

'I see...' Pondered Harry 'Second question, why did you have Dudley's powers bound when he was born? Did nobody tell you how stupidly dangerous that is?!'

At this Vernon started turning red 'What are you blathering about boy?! Our Dudders doesn't have any freakishness in him, he's as normal as I am!'

'I highly doubt that Uncle_' _Harry replied 'I know for a fact that Dudley has magical blood, so Aunt, why?'

'Vernon hates magic!' she cried 'He would have had the baby killed if he knew, and Dumbledore offered to bind Dudder's magic if we would keep quiet about your history!' Suddenly she shivered, something that should be impossible with the magic holding her in place 'We wouldn't dare be associated with another freak like you!'

'Hmm... How peculiar, it would appear that you are of almost two minds... Like you're fighting against something; _Finite Incantatum_' Harry intoned as he flicked his hand towards his aunt. She shook violently before falling to the ground. Seconds later, she regained herself and climbed up onto her chair and sat down. 'Thank you for that Harry' she began 'When Dumbledore bound Dudley's abilities, he placed a charm on me and I was too weak to stop him. He made it so that the mere thought of you would make me angry, set to slowly grow as you aged. I'm so sorry!' she cried

'Well this is new.. Vernon, I don't suppose you've had a change of heart about me?'

'Hell no, freak!' He spat

'Very well...' Harry flicked his hand at his Uncle once more, and he disintegrated before the trio's very eyes, leaving nothing to ever show of Vernon's existence.

'Now then Aunt. I'm going to be leaving you today, and you shall probably not hear from me for a while. I must warn you, when I return it will be with somebody you have not seen for a long time, so I do ask that you ready yourself for that. In the mean time, I would like you to provide Dudley with all of the information you can on the magical world and his abilities. I will unbind them on the condition that he is properly trained and restrained in what he does. Teach him wrong from right, and do not, whatever you do, let him run rampant!'

'Of course Harry, thank you so much...'

'Don't take this as me forgiving him, I have no idea how much of an impact having his powers bound had on him, so as far as I'm concerned he really is the child that bullied me for as long as I can remember. But every magical being has the right at a chance of regular life, including him.'

With that, he turned to his, until now, silent cousin and looked him straight in the eye. '_Legilimens' _he muttered, and felt the familiar rush from entering another's mind. He quickly followed the traces of magic in his cousins conscious, before finally arriving at his magical core. Harry forced a small burst of magic to kickstart the core's regeneration, before quickly leaving. Returned to his view of the outside world, Harry watched as his cousin doubled over in pain before passing out. As he fell, sparks of blue magic travelled across his body, repairing old scar tissue, and reducing the levels of fat in his body as his core used up the energy.

Harry turned away, nodded once at his Aunt before silently apparating away.

* * *

Mere seconds later, Harry reappeared just as silently outside of what appeared to be an old, rundown shack on the edge of a small village. He strode purposefully towards the near-collapsing building, slashing downwards with his hand as he neared the front door, sending out a pulse of magic destroying the protective wards surrounding the property. 'Huh' Harry muttered 'That was easy, wonder what ward breakers moan about, takes no time at all!'

He waved his hand towards the front door, blowing it off of its hinges and propelling it across the room behind it, setting off all of the curse traps he knew awaited him. After pausing a moment at the threshold, he edged into the room keeping an eye out for any traps he may have missed. Seeing none, he pointed his hand towards the floor and attempted to cast a reductor curse, however nothing happened. Frowning, he tried again a few more times, before kneeling on the floor and searching for a hidden door.

After a few minutes of searching, he found what he was looking for and opened it with a hissed /_Open_/ standing up as the door disappeared before him. He swiftly dropped into the knee high hole, and levitated the box he found in front of him. Tearing off a strip of clothing, he opened the box and removed the ring from within, wrapping it with the cloth. As he removed the ring, he felt a surge of magic that quickly formed into a corporeal shape: a chimera made of fiendfyre. His eyes widening, he quickly dropped the box and attempted to apparate out of the crumbling shack, however he couldn't. Becoming worried he spotted a stone on the floor, and concentrating on the location of the Dursley household, he flicked his hand towards the stone and muttered a quiet '_portus'_ under his breath, nearly sighing with relief as the stone briefly glowed blue before returning to normal. He lunged towards the stone just as the chimera pounced upon him, barely making contact and escaping before he was to be killed.

He rematerialised moments later in a heap on the floor of the Dursley's kitchen, and before he'd even had the chance to sit up his aunt was upon him, helping him into a chair before fetching him a drink of water. 'What the..?' Harry muttered 'No offence Aunt Petunia, but what are you doing? I didn't exactly expect a warm welcome when I came back...'

'Nonsense Harry!' his Aunt replied 'You're family! I know I've never shown it before now, but I really do care about you... We'd have been so happy if it wasn't for Vernon and that pesky headmaster! Now then young man, care to explain where you've been?!'

And so Harry told her of his trip to the Gaunt shack, and his reasons for doing so. Upon finishing his Aunt fell back into her chair in shock. Whitefaced, and with a glint of hope in her eyes, she asked 'So does this mean.. You can bring her back? You can bring my sister and your father back..?'

'I think so, yeah... I don't see why it wouldn't work, I mean'

'Wait, Harry.. How do you know all this... Just yesterday you were a weak, quivering boy, now look at you.. You can feel a huge difference of how you are around everything.'

And so Harry delved into the second tale of the day, and told his Aunt of his time travel, and why he did it.

'You know, after everything I've been realising today, that is nowhere near as farfetched as you would think, I'll be glad to help you in any way I can..'

'Oh! That's what I meant to ask' Harry interrupted 'Has my Hogwarts letter arrived today?'

'I almost forgot, what with all this excitement, it did indeed! And strangely enough, Dudley's arrived only moments later... Should I be worried?'

'Not at all' replied Harry 'Although I would ask that you take us both to Diagon Alley, it would be a shame for you to miss out on his first visit.. I'm sure I can find a way of getting you into the Alley'

'Thank you Harry, I'll admit that Diagon was one of the places I was most jealous of Lily getting to go without me, as silly as that sounds now... I think I'm going to be more excited than Dudley!'

'Well, no time like the present! I'll go and wake Dudley, then make a portkey to the Alley, not sure I'd be able to apparate us right now, my magic seems a touch temperamental.. I must ask Ollivander about it when we go to get Dudley's wand, it might have something to do with my core adjusting...' Harry tailed off to himself as he wandered upstairs. He waved his hand over Dudley's slowly moving body, and with a muttered _Enervate_ he awoke, stretching out on his bed before standing, turning to face Harry and attacking him with a hug 'Thank you Thank you Thank you!' he shouted 'I don't know what you did Harry, but I feel great... I feel, magical... Is that what it's like to be like you?'

'Pretty much Dud.. Now come on, the more time you spend moping around here, the less time you get exploring the Alley, and I think your mother would kill you if you do that'

So with Dudley swiftly out of bed and changed into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, the pair returned downstairs to find Petunia stood patiently by the door.  
'Now, since this is your first trip into the Alley, I'm going to have to explain some things' began Harry 'For starters, it wouldn't be your best idea to stop and gawk at your surroundings, remember that to everybody else, this is a normal occurrence. Secondly, your muggle clothes are like bright neon signs showing that you don't belong, so we're all going to have to wear robes on top of them.'

As he finished speaking, Harry flicked his hand in the general direction of his Aunt and cousin, conjuring robes for them to wear. He then waved his hand in front of him, creating a third pair of robes for himself, these ones of a seemingly higher quality, with the Potter crest attached to the front. He then picked up the stone he'd used previously as a portkey, and with a muttered '_Portus' _created another for the trio to use to get to the Alley.

'Right then, in a moment I would like you two to touch the stone, and don't let go until we get to the Alley. This is a portkey, a magically enchanted object that will transport us to a given location, chosen by the enchanter. This particular one is set to be activated by the password, and will take us to the Alley, and back here again once we are done, understand? Good. Right, now are you both touching the stone?' At their nod, Harry placed his finger on the stone, and mentally stated the password he had used. A moment later, the three of them arrived in Diagon Alley, Harry landing elegantly on his feet, whilst the other two stumbled towards the ground, only being stopped by Harry catching both of their arms.

'Don't worry about the landing for now' laughed Harry 'You'll get used to it, and until you do, that's what stability charms are for!'

With that said, Harry walked meaningfully down the middle of the Alley, the throng of passersby seemingly being pushed away by an unseen force as he strode towards Gringotts. As the trio arrived at the bank, Petunia and Dudley paused and gazed up at the infamous sign above the door:

_Enter, stranger, but take heed_  
_Of what awaits the sin of greed_  
_For those who take, but do not earn,_  
_Must pay most dearly in their turn._  
_So if you seek beneath our floors_  
_A treasure that was never yours,_  
_Thief, you have been warned, beware_  
_Of finding more than treasure there._

'Come on, just ignore that warning, you're not stupid enough to try and rob Gringotts, trust me.' stated Harry

He then continued to walk towards an empty desk, and before reaching it, bowed to the occupant. 'Greetings, Noble Goblin. My name is Harry Potter, and my family and I wish to do business with the Bank.'

The Goblin sneered at him. 'Are you really... And I suppose you have some sort of identification?'

At this Harry pulled out a small knife, and picked his finger with it, letting a single drop of blood leave his finger and drop down onto the near invisible plate he knew was located. The Goblin raised his eyebrow slightly 'It would appear you are who you say... I presume you would wish to speak to your accounts manager?' At Harry's nod, the Goblin clicked his fingers. Moments later, a second Goblin appeared, and escorted Harry and his remaining family down the corridor and into a large office.

* * *

Over an hour later, the trio left Gringotts looking slightly stunned.  
'I never realised just how well off Lily and James were!' exclaimed Petunia 'You're going to be set for life!'

'So it would seem.. I never got round to my family accounts last time around, they were all seized by the Ministry by the time I was 18 anyways, thanks to the war... Anyway, that's the boring part over with, now let's go shopping!'

And so Harry and Dudley raced off down the Alley together, running straight into Ollivander's.

'Ah, Mr Potter, I've been expecting you... And you've brought your cousin with you, what a pleasantly unexpected surprise... Looks as though Dumbledore isn't as good at meddling as he would like to think! Anyway, back to business, I think I will find your wand first Mr Evans, it shouldn't be too hard... Now, which is your wand arm?' rasped Ollivander

'I'm right handed' replied Dudley

With a flick of Ollivander's wand, a roll of measuring tape suddenly appeared and began measuring seemingly random parts of Dudley's body, a quill writing down the measurements as it did so. Finally, it measures his forearm before disappearing with a slight pop. By this time, Petunia had arrived at the store and was watching with thinly veiled fascination.

'Right then m'boy, try this one, 103/4 inches, Beech, Phoenix feather..'

Dudley waved the wand, before it was snatched out of his hand 'No no, not that one... Hmm, perhaps this one, 111/4 inches, Red Oak, Dragon heartstring...'

Dudley took hold of the wand, and as he did so, a light breeze shot through the store, and a light trail of sparks trickled out the end of said wand. 'Yes! Thats the wand for you, Mr Evans! Now then, that will be 7 Galleons, but we can cover that in a moment. Hello again Harry...'

'Good to see you again Garrick, glad those seer rumours about you were true, or have you just been in contact with the DoM? They must have noticed the energy spike..'

'Indeed they did, but yes you're right there's seer blood in my family, how do you think I can remember every wand I ever sold boy?' Ollivander laughed 'Now then, looking at you, you're not going to be able to use a Phoenix wand anymore... Nor a Unicorn tail.. and you'd just blow out a Dragon Heartstring core... Let me guess, you want your old custom wand?'

'Of course... I assume I'm going to have to wait?' Harry replied with a sigh, he had been hoping he could at least have some sort of wand.

'Tell you what, I can tell you have some questions for me, why don't I answer those whilst I work? Then, if you do the rest of your shopping whilst you wait it should be done around sunset.'

'Okay! You're right, I do have some questions... How come my magic isn't as powerful as it was before I came back?'

'Your magical may be huge compared to the average wizard Harry, but it's only around a tenth of what it will be when you turn 17. Up until then, you'll just have to keep building it up, and try not to rely on your wandless abilities, the wand should make things easier for you, your magic probably won't fail on you unless you ridiculously over do it, you could probably last for around an hour constant casting? After that it would probably just cut out... Not advisable of course! You know the extent of your magic once it builds up though, it shouldn't take too long before it's more manageable. I'm guessing you overdid it?'

'Yup, cut out just as I was being attacked by a fiendfyre trap. Luckily portkeys don't take a lot of magic. Apparently apparition was too much!'

'Well, it all worked out in the end eh? The more magic you use, the more it'll build up m'boy, sound good?'

'Yeah, thanks old friend. Much appreciated, we'll be back later! How much do I owe you?'

'That'll be 10 Galleons, 7 for Mr Evans, 3 for yours I think, call it a thank you for giving me the opportunity to create such an incredible wand!'

Harry placed the money on the counter before turning back to his Aunt and Cousin. 'Right then, shopping time!'

The trio moved out of the store, and back into the Alley.

'Now Harry' began his Aunt 'I expect you want to go and shop on your own, among other things, so your cousin and I will buy what's on his list, I think I remember where the shops were from our walk to Gringotts. Anything extra I should be aware of?'

'Avoid stepping off of the main alley, and I'd keep clear of the bank too, you won't want to get involved in what's going to happen.'

'Hmm... I still think your plan is insane after seeing those guards, but, for heavens sake be careful!'

'Ugh, yes Aunt Petunia!' Harry replied with a wink before disappearing into the crowd.

'That boy will be the death of me...' muttered Petunia, before turning to her son, and leading him down the main street.

* * *

Harry reappeared moments later at the edge of Knockturn Alley, hiding himself in a shrouded alcove before pulling up the hood of his robes, and wandlessly transfiguring them into a plain black cloak. He then used his small ability in metamorphosis to increase his height, and waved his hand over his face to shroud it in shadow. Giving himself one more check over, he placed a notice-me-not charm around himself before silently apparating into the main hall at Gringotts. He strode towards the goblin sat at the main desk, and upon meeting him, with an uttered _Imperio _was being led towards the vault system, and to his next goal, Vault 713.

Upon reaching said vault, he had the goblin open the door, and picked up his prize: the Philosopher's Stone of legend. He held the stone in his hand for a moment and closed his eyes; as he opened up his other palm, an identical looking stone began to form, eventually growing to the same size as the original. He then wrapped the copy in the original's packaging, before placing the real stone in his pocket and leaving the vault.

Upon returning to the surface, Harry once again silently apparated, this time back to his hidden alcove, He removed the charm shrouding his face and allowed himself to shrink to his original size. Glancing around his surroundings, he briskly walked back into the main alley before continuing his shopping for Hogwarts. An hour or so later, he walked into Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, to be met by a scene very familiar to himself: Before him stood Draco Malfoy, being sized up for his Hogwarts robes. Madame Malkin appeared and beckoned him over to the stool next to the boy.  
'Hello, Hogwarts are you?' asked the blonde boy

'Yes' replied Harry

'Me too... Mother is down the street looking at wands, and father is next door buying my books. I think I'll drag them to look at Racing brooms once I'm done here.. In my opinion it's an utter travesty that first years aren't allowed their own brooms!' Draco drawled in a bored sounding voice

Harry was instantly reminded of how much of a pompous idiot Draco was before the War started

'Do you fly at all?' finished Draco

'I love flying, it's a great way to just clear your mind and have some fun, what Quidditch position do you play?' replied Harry

'I'm a chaser through and through to be honest with you, much more fast paced than the other positions and it's one of the most important, I don't think I'd like the pressure of being a seeker, it would be too easy for everybody to turn against you if you miss the snitch' said Draco

'I can see your reasoning there, although I prefer seeker myself, I'm not really interested in the other positions. You never introduced yourself by the way, my names Harry, Harry Potter... And I'd guess from the crest on your robe you're a Malfoy? Although I must confess, I am at a loss to your first name.' states Harry, reverting to the pureblood speech pattern Draco had instilled in him in the previous timeline.

'Are you really? Well, I must say you're not at all what I expected, the names Draco by the way, I'm sure my father would be very pleased to meet you.'

'I would expect so, however it would appear that my robes are done, so I'll see you on the train?'

'Indeed you will, goodbye Harry'

'So long, Draco.'

Harry left the shop feeling slightly happier than when he entered, knowing he had laid the foundations for one of his greatest friendships from his past life. He made his way down the alley and back into Ollivander's store. Passing Narcissa Malfoy on her way out, he made his way to the back of the store, flicking his hand towards the door that shimmered slightly before opening.

'Most people would knock you know Mr Potter' Ollivander drawled with a barely concealed smirk

'Yes well most people wouldn't know the ward bypass for that door my friend'

Ollivander laughed 'Yes m'boy that's very true, now then, your wand is finished and I must say I have managed to even impress myself! Obviously with the state of things in your previous life, I would not have had access to all of my equipment and as such, your wand would not have been to as good a standard as it possibly could be. Now I have had the time to create it as I originally planned, I am sure you will find it much more suited to your needs.'

He turned back to his workbench, before levitating a beautifully crafted wand into the space between the two wizards. Harry reached forward and grasped the wand, feeling a sharp scratch in his hand as he did so. Moments later, the wand emitted a bright glow before returning to it's normal, black state.

'Black Elder wood, 121/2 inches, imbued with basilisk venom, phoenix tears, stabilised by your blood and containing an obsidian focusing crystal, I must say this is possibly one of if not the greatest of my creations!'

'Many thanks old friend, you have no idea how good it feels to have my wand back again... I do hope you'll let Marcus know about me, would be nice to chat with the old man again.'

'Will do Harry, I'll be seeing you soon yes?'

'Of course, of course. I'm quite sure Marcus will be sending me here at some point in the near future!'

'Well if not him, then Horace surely will, good bye m'boy'

'Farewell' replied Harry before leaving the back room and walking out of the shop.

Outside he met with his Aunt and Cousin, who he quickly made sure he was touching before apparating them back to Privet Drive.


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer:Harry Potter does not belong to me, anything you recognise isn't mine, anything you do not, is :-)

Harry and his relatives reappeared in the front room of #4 Privet Drive moments after disappearing from the busy streets of Diagon Alley. Petunia collapsed onto the couch looking a little worse for wear, whereas Dudley proceeded to run to the sink and regurgitate the majority of his breakfast into it. 'Huh, forgot you wouldn't have apparated before.. Silly me!' laughed Harry

'Now there Harry, don't go making jokes at our expense, that's not very polite!' Petunia laughed 'Did you manage to get what you wanted from the bank? I assume it was important if you had to avoid us whilst retrieving it…'

'Indeed I did!' replied Harry, before pulling out his conquest from his robe pocket 'This little thing here, is the philosopher's stone… A magically formed alchemical device, that allows the user to create gold from nothing… However that isn't the property I'm interested in… It also allows the user to brew a well-known but little used potion known as the elixir of life… Otherwise known within some circles as the Necromancer's short cut, it allows you to restore a bound souls life force.'

Petunia looked confused at this.

'In English if you would…?'

'Right, okay, silly me… Basically what is going to happen, is I'm going to use the item I retrieved earlier today to summon my Mum and Dad's souls. I could do it without the resurrection stone, but it would be much harder. I'm then going to bind their souls to a rudimentary construct of sorts, a basic body if you will. Then I will place them both within a cauldron filled with the elixir and perform a little-known ritual. This will, in theory if all goes well, restore them both to their full lives, if not slightly extended than usual because of the residual build-up of elixir.'

'Right…' muttered Petunia 'Now why do I get the feeling that since you had to steal one of the objects required, and hunt for the second, that this spell of yours isn't exactly legal…'

'That's probably because it isn't…' blushed Harry 'Necromancy has been outlawed by the International Confederation of Wizard for the last 300 years… And Necromancy of this level hasn't been attempted since the Ancient Greeks created their Gods from the souls of dead warrior mages… But don't worry, I know what I'm doing!'

'You don't exactly inspire me with confidence Harry… But okay, I want my sister back, so when can you do this ritual?!'

'In theory I could do it on my own, however it would be more beneficial to have another two people here, in order to maintain the hallows triangle. It would mean that the ritual would be less taxing on my magic, and also would allow mum and dad to come back with no need to rest their magic or anything. In fact, I think I'll summon them now…' and with that, Harry drew his wand from the holster Ollivander had gifted him, and with a muttered _Expecto Patronum _two balls of light appeared, before rushing off through the window and disappearing from view. Minutes later there were two distinct pops in the back garden, signalling the apparition of Harry's guests. Harry and Petunia wandered into the garden to meet them, leaving Dudley where he had passed out on the sofa. 'Mooney, Tonks!' Harry exclaimed 'It's so good to see you guys again… We're going to do the ritual to bring back mum and dad now if that's okay with you guys? Aunt Petunia here is going to help with the setting up of the cauldron whilst we worry about the magical aspects.' At the funny look he received off the pair when mentioning his aunt, Harry quickly explained to them the spell she and Dudley had been under, and how Harry had broken it. With their worries satisfied, they each drew their wands and traced out the symbol of the Hallows along the floor with pure magic. Harry flicked his wand and conjured two cauldrons and placed them in the centre of the rune. He then pulled out the Philosophers stone, and placed it in the bottom of the first cauldron. Then with a wave of his wand, the cauldron filled to the brim with what started as water, before it swiftly turned a dark shade of red. He then withdrew the stone and repeated the task with the second cauldron. With this done, he turned to his aunt, Remus and Tonks. 'Right then guys, the ritual has been set up, did you two bring the ingredients?'

'Yes Harry, one of the bones of their fathers, I will give the required flesh, and the blood of an enemy can be anybody, but is more potent if it is muggle blood as that is what the ritual pertains to be an enemy. This is where I was hoping your aunt could step in?' answered Remus

'Of course, anything to get them back!' replied Petunia 'Tell me what I need to do?'

'Okay aunt Petunia, we need to you cut the palm of your hand and let us have two drops of blood.' As Harry said this, he conjured a dagger, and Petunia proceeded to slice her palm. Allowing a drop of blood to fall into each of the hastily conjured vials, Harry then waved his hand over the wound allowing it to heal. The three mages then moved to stand at each point of the rune. Harry then pulled out the resurrection stone, and threw it up into the air. Upon climbing six or seven feet, it halted in midair and began to spin. Moments later, the pale spectres of Lily and James Potter appeared within the triangle. With a wave of Harry's hand, two Golems appeared, and were swiftly inhabited by the duo. Harry levitated them both and dropped them into the cauldrons. He began to chant:

'_Bone of the father, unknowingly taken, you shall revive your child'_

and with that, Harry levitated the bones into the respective cauldron.

'_Flesh of the servant, wilfully given, you shall revive your master'_

With this, Remus withdrew a dagger and removed two of his fingers before levitating them into a cauldron each, his werewolf healing abilities having replaced the missing digits already.

'_Blood of thine enemy, knowingly given, you shall revive your foe!'_

Harry dropped the vials of blood into each respective cauldron, before all of a sudden a bright light surrounded them all, shielding them from the view of any outsiders. Moments later, the cauldrons caught aflame, and began to levitate. They then began to convulse and wrap around themselves as if attempting to apparate, before finally they began to take on the shape of the intended form. As the light dissipated, the forms finished their transformation into that of the no longer deceased Lily and James Potter. Harry broke from his position to run into his families arms. Taken aback momentarily, Lily and James then wrapped their arms around their son for the first time in years, soon joined by Remus and Tonks as the tears freely flowed from all's eyes.

A few minutes later, Lily broke away from the hug, and walked over to her sister…

'Oh Lily!' cried Petunia as she flung herself into her baby sister's arms 'I'm so so sorry for everything I've ever done to Harry under Dumbledore's curse, and everything that I ever said in hate to you and your family… I was just jealous, and it's a stupid reason, and I understand if you hate me forever and ever, but I just want you to know I'm sorry!'

'Shh Tuney… It's okay… I forgive you… It's going to be okay' whispered Lily as she wrapped her arms around her sister 'That's over and done with now… This is our chance to start afresh, as a family.'

An hour later found the six of them sat around the table in the kitchen, discussing what their next course of action would be.

'In my opinion..' began Harry 'We should leave the ministry and Dumbledore in the dark with regards to your revival, they would only attempt to dig into what happened here today, and with our luck we would all end up in Azkaban.'

'That is all well and good son, but how are we going to free Sirius if there's technically nobody that knows Wormtail was the secret keeper?' asked James

'That's easily done' replied Harry 'Sirius can escape from Azkaban again, just early this time, break into the Burrow, capture Wormtail, and take him to Amelia Bones's office in the DMLE. As long as he does it before anybody notices his escape, he should be fine. The only question is how to let him know our plans?'

'I'll send him a patronus now, knowing Padfoot, he'll be in the Ministry with the rat within an hour of him leaving. Do you think he'd need any help?' Remus interjected

'I'd be very surprised if he did' responded Lily 'That spell that we used to come back now, transported our consciousness' and our magic, and, for want for a better term, dumped it into our old souls. So really, he should have more than twice the magic he had before, and if I remember rightly he wasn't exactly weak beforehand. Now he should easily be able to escape Azkaban, even without a wand. Add into that the fact that he now has his sanity completely restored, all he has to do is wandlessly create himself a portkey off the island… His power level should allow him to at least transport himself to the edge of the wards, if not directly to the Burrow!'

'If our magic has been combined with that of our old selves, I would love to see how high we all rate on the Merlinean scale now…' muttered Tonks

'The what?' asked Harry

'The Merlinean scale, is the scale by which a witch or wizards magical power is measured. It was first created around 200 years ago, and nobody has found a way to improve on it since. It is administered three times throughout a wizard's life, first when they are born, secondly when they are admitted into a magical school of their choice, and thirdly when they reach their magical majority at the age of 17. A drop of blood is taken from the child at birth, and placed onto the front page of their file at the ministry. That drop is charged with a short bolt of magic, and the amount of magic released in response is measured and recorded on the parchment. The form is linked to the acceptance letter sent to each child when they begin school so that the level is updated, and then when they reach the age of 17 the level is once again magically updated.' Answered Lily

'That just sound stupidly complicated' Harry laughed whilst looking confused 'Anyways, Mooney you need to send the patronus to Padfoot, and let him know how he can escape easily, he never was the brightest spark, and he may try and escape the same way he did last time.'

With that, Remus withdrew his wand and summoned his patronus. A few muttered words later and the patronus sped off through the wall and forward into Azkaban, to the top of it's highest peak, the high security prisoners wing.

* * *

Meanwhile, sat in said prison cell was one Sirius Black, last remaining member of the Ancient and Noble House of Black. Imprisoned in 1981 for the murder or Peter Pettigrew, the betrayal of Lily and James Potter to Voldemort and many other dark magic offences, he had spent the last ten years of his life seemingly withering away within his cell. However, this was not the case. Whilst originally Sirius had spent 13 years within the prison before breaking free, this time his future soul had resided within his body, granting him a complete healing of all the psychological effects Azkaban had had on him. Having spent from the moment he arrived in the past, to the moment Remus patronus appeared in his cell, regenerating his body and reversing the effects of malnourishment that had befallen him.

Given the extensive increase in magical power he had obtained, by the time said patronus arrived nearly a day after he did, his body was almost fully back to how it was before his incarceration.

Upon receiving the message, he calmly stood up off of his bed, if you could really call the mat in the corner a bed, and picked up one of the loose stones off the floor. With a muttered _Portus _the stone flashed blue, before returning to its grey hue. Moments later, Sirius Black, one of the most infamous wizards in Magical Britain, disappeared from his cell; momentarily rematerialized on the edge of the prison wards, before thrusting his body forwards through the ward boundary and apparating away with a faint gust of wind.

Far away from the island of Azkaban, Sirius reappeared with another faint whoosh on the edge of the property boundary of the Burrow, known residence of the remaining British Weasley family. Detecting no wards surrounding the property, other than the standard Muggle repelling ones, he strode forward through the open gate, and followed the main path down to the house. Noticing the lack of light emanating from the house, he circled round to the back door, and with a wave of his hand disillusioned himself. To anybody watching the Weasley household, it would have appeared that the back door of the property had blown open in the wind, before being shut just over a minute later. However, this was not the case. Upon entering the household, Sirius briskly walked up the stairs, pausing to silence his footsteps on the first landing after he realised the noise he may cause, and made his way to the bedroom where one ten year old Ronald Weasley slept. Hitting the boy with a mild _Dormio _hex to ensure he did not wake up, he stunned the rat resting in the cage beside the bed and placed it into a conjured bag, realising that the robes he had been given for prison had long since lost any pockets. Once again silently leaving the room, he closed the door and swiftly made his way downstairs and out of the house, closing the door behind him. Once he left the house, he moved into a full out sprint to the edge of the property before twisting mid stride and apparating away with a barely audiable pop being the only indication he had ever been there.

**AN Hope you enjoy the chapter guys, let me know what you think in the reviews section? Thanks!**


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer:Harry Potter does not belong to me, anything you recognise isn't mine, anything you do not, is :-)

Deep within the sprawling Metropolis of Muggle London, stood an unassuming phone box. However this was no ordinary phone box, one of few that remained within the city thanks to recent technological advances in handheld communication. No, this particular phone box had a secret, for if you were to stand inside it, grasp the phone and dial _62442 _you would discover that it was the public entrance to the British Ministry of Magic.

Disturbing the peace of the night, stood a lone man, dressed in what appeared to be a tattered cloak and suit. However what was most astounding about this man, was the fact that mere milliseconds ago he had been nowhere around, almost as if he had appeared by _magic_. The man strode into the phone box, dialled the magic number as it were, and waited for the cool voice of the magical receptionist to respond.

'_Please state your name and business with us today.'_

'Sirius Black, rescue mission.' The man replied, shaking his head at the obviousness of the Ministry's _secret _entrance. Honestly, anybody who thought to read the keys they were typing would realise the laziness of the passcode.

'_Welcome to the Ministry of Magic, we hope you have a pleasant day.'_

A moment later, a name badge dropped out of the coin return slot and was quickly vanished by Sirius as the floor of the phone booth began to descend into the bowels below.

He checked on the state of his prisoner in the bag he had conjured, reapplied the stunner he had first hit him with, and waited for the lift to stop. Once within the wards of the Ministry, he disappeared in a cloud of black smoke: one of the things he had learnt from his time as an unspeakable working for their operations department. Before travelling through the atrium, he disillusioned himself once more mid flight and the cloud passed through the atrium unnoticed and into the main lifts network. He travelled down to Level Two, the office of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and continued to fly until appearing once more in the ante-chamber to the office of said Department's current head, one Madame Amelia Bones, a woman famed for both her no-nonsense attitude and belief that everybody deserved a fair shot in the eyes of the Law, whether that be in court or during pursuit was up to the criminal themselves.

Removing the charm from himself, Sirius paused to collect himself and ensure he had an exit route if things went pear shaped, before walking through the door and into the office.

The moment Mme Bones realised just who had disturbed her, she had raised her wand and fired off a quick succession of questionable, if legal, curses and stunners towards Sirius before stopping when he failed to return fire and raised his hands in surrender. Conjuring a chair, she bound him to it before stunning him. When he was brought back around, he was surrounded by the faces of Amelia, Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge, and Head Auror Rufus Scrimgeour.

Fudge immediately began ranting about idiots imitating Death Eaters and trying to bring fear to the public however was quickly silenced by a glare from Bones. Scrimgeour tilted Sirius' head back as Amelia leaned forward and dropped three droplets of what Sirius hoped was Veritaserum into his mouth. He felt the potion take effect, however it was much weaker than he had thought it would be: possibly a side effect of his newly acquired magical abilities.

'What is your name?' began Bones

'Sirius Orion Black, heir to the Ancient and Noble House of Black.'

Fudge blanched at this, staggering over to Amelia's desk and sitting on it's edge. 'What are you doing here? You should be in Azkaban!'

'I escaped, so as to clear my name and bring the true culprit to justice.'

'What are you talking about Black?' injected Scrimgeour

'I was not the Potter's secret keeper when Voldemort' the room flinched 'Attacked the Potter's that Halloween night, nor was I ever a one of His lackeys'

He then proceeded to recount the true tale of that night and his subsequent arrest, finishing by removing Wormtail from his prison, and placing him on the table where he was bound and the Animagus Revealing charm cast upon him, revealing a fat, balding Pettigrew, and ratifying Sirius's story.

Sirius was immediately released from his bonds by an extremely apologetic Fudge, who was happy to hear Sirius placed no blame of his false incarceration on him or his current DMLE staff.

Hours later, Sirius left the Ministry a free man, several hundred thousand galleons richer, and content in the knowledge that Bartemius Crouch Sr. was about to have a very bad day.

* * *

Later that morning, back in the sleepy village of Ottery St Catchpole, a family of red heads were stirring from their nights sleep. Having been a predominantly working class family for the last few generations, the inhabitants of a rickety old house that looked impossible yet was, were up at the crack of dawn with nary a complaint nor whimper from the children. One by one they appeared in the kitchen and sat down to enjoy what would usually be a quiet breakfast, interrupted only by the arrival of the family post owl. However, this was not a normal day, for when the last red headed child stomped down the old stairs, he did so with a worried look on his face.

'Mum, Dad!' he bellowed 'Scabbers has gone missing!'

'Now now Ronald, I'm sure he'll be somewhere around the house, he can't have gotten far!' replied his Mother, a short rounded woman with a head of flaming red hair and a glint of power in her eye if you knew where to look.

'He was locked in his cage all night, the one that Professor Dumbledore gave me for my birthday, he said he wouldn't be able to get out!'

Arthur however did not look perturbed by this news, whilst Molly sitting next to him turned pale. However before anything more could be said, there was a flurry of feathers, and a crash as their aging post owl Errol flew into the box of cereal set upon the table. Arthur removed their copy of the Daily Prophet and began to read, his face turning more and more grave as he did so. Minutes later, he placed the paper on the table and looked into his wife's eyes.

'Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban this morning.'

Molly blanched, her grip on the table tightening. 'What do you mean he escaped? That's impossible!'

'Evidently not dear, because he did so. Not only that, but he escaped and where did he go you might ask? Right into the office of the Director of the DMLE. Apparently he gave irrefutable evidence to her, Head Auror Scrimgeour and Minister Fudge that he was innocent and had been falsely imprisoned.

'That can't be true, he was a Death Eater! You Know Who's right hand man! He betrayed Lily and James to Him personally!'

'Actually, he was the innocent one in all of this. The traitor was in fact Peter Pettigrew.'

'What?!' screamed Molly, causing the children to cover their ears 'Kids, out now.'

Once the remaining Weasley children had filed out, Molly closed the door to the lounge with a wave of her wand, before casting a silencing spell on the door.

'Even if Peter was the traitor, that's not important now, Black killed him nearly ten years ago!'

'Actually, it would appear that the Ministry was wrong on that account as well… Pettigrew himself had blown up that street, cut of his own finger before transforming into his animagus form and fleeing into the sewers. However, that isn't what I'm worried about… There is a picture of his form in the papers today… Remind you of anyone?' he nudged the paper towards her.

Molly gave a sharp intake of breath

'Scabbers… But, it can't be…'

'At first I thought it was just a rat, but if you look carefully, you can see the missing toe and the light patch of fur just around it's head… It's definitely him' replied Arthur 'We just better hope that the Ministry doesn't find out where that rat's been living the past ten years, they'd hang us out to dry, whether we knew he was here or not!' and with that Arthur and Molly both shivered as the thought of what would happen to them popped into their heads 'Right then, I need to head off to work, I'll see you later dear'

He stood from his chair, kissed his wife on the cheek and headed out the back door, apparating away with a sharp crack moments later.

He reappeared in a packed Ministry Atrium, almost immediately being pushed forward from the apparition point and into the Atrium proper. He was ferried along by the crowd for a few minutes before reaching the front of what he now realised was a line, headed by a member of the DMLE. 'What's happening Karl?' asked Arthur  
'After Lord Black's uninterrupted entry to the Ministry last night, the Minister and Madam Bones have decided to up the security of the building, starting with entry checks for all Ministry staff for the next month. You are to pass through this detector here, and it will check your magical signature to ensure that you are who you say you are. Then you are free to continue to your work, if you are found to be an imposter, you'll be carted off to a holding cell to await interrogation from the Hit Wizards. It would seem that the Minister is taking the break in very seriously!'

'I see, well I can't disagree with anything that keeps us safe, so on we go.' And with that, Arthur headed through the detector, passing his wand over to Karl as he did so. A moment later he was handed it back, and was on his way with a cheery 'Have a nice day Arthur' called from behind him.


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me, anything you recognise isn't mine, anything you do not, is :-)

Whilst Arthur Weasley was arriving at work, another arrival was occurring in a rather quiet and unsuspecting housing estate barely 30 miles away.

'Sirius!' exclaimed a voice as Sirius apparated into No 4 Privet Drive

'James!' exclaimed Sirius back 'How are you?! Obviously the ritual was a success!'

'Did you really expect anything different Padfoot? It was Lily that wrote the modifications after all'

'Of course, of course… Speaking of which, where is the darling Lily? And Prongslet?'

'They're just in the front room with Petunia and Dudley… Going through near enough the same thing they went through when she died the first time.'

'Oh Merlin..' laughed Sirius 'I do pity our Harry for having to sit through that!' James laughed with him, however before anything further could be said, Sirius was suddenly engulfed by a small boy who was crying with laughter  
'Uncle Padfoot! I'm so glad you made it, the plan worked then?' asked Harry

'Like a charm Prongslet, I doubt it could have gone any better if I'd tried! I would say thanks, but we all know that it only worked because of my devilishly handsome good looks and doggish charm!' Sirius replied with a wink 'And trust me, Barty Crouch is about to have a very bad day!'

The three wizards laughed at this, and as such failed to notice that they had attracted the attention of the other occupants of the house who had assembled into the kitchen. Following this came multiple loud and emotional greetings and hugs, before the group returned to the living room and sat around the central table.

'So, Harry, I know that you explained the general outline of what it means for me to be magical, but I was wondering if you and your family could, I don't know, show me...?' asked Dudley hopefully

'Hmm, I dunno…' replied Harry 'What do you guys think, Mum? Dad?'

'Well, the back garden is still warded enough for the magic to be undetectable to Dumbledore, and obviously none of the wands used would have the trackers on… I don't see why not!' answered Lily

'I call dibs on duelling the pup!' exclaimed Sirius 'I saw the training he put himself through after the fiasco at the Department, I want to see how much he's really improved!'

So they all made their way to the back garden once more, and set up a duelling dome so as to not cause any damage to the surroundings. Sirius and Harry took their positions in the centre of the dome and bowed, both grinning when Sirius winked at the onlookers.

Without warning, Sirius had his wand in his hand and had silently cast a stunner at the youngest Potter, only to have it swatted away by Harry's hand where it hit the ground and dissipated.

'Come on mutt!' goaded Harry 'Surely that's not all you got?'

Sirius grunted and answered by sending back a second stunner, a blinding hex and a banishing charm. Once again the spells failed to hit Harry, with him simply stepping out of the way of the stunner and banisher, and parrying the hex back at Sirius with his hand.

'I was at least expecting to have to use my wand!' Harry laughed 'Now it's time for the real magic to happen.'

Moving at a speed almost unthinkable, Harry had drawn his Black Elder wand and had fired a disarming hex at his godfather. Sirius waved his wand and conjured a shimmering shield to absorb the spell. However as he took the split second to do this, Harry had stepped into a pattern he had long since memorised, firing off a stunner, a bone breaker, a tripping jinx, a banishing charm, and finished off with a muttered '_Reducto'_. Forcing Sirius to abandon his shield to duck and weave through Harry's spells.

'Come on Padfoot, you must have seen him use that chain a thousand times! It was his basis for motionless casting for Merlin's sake!' shouted James from the sidelines

'I bloody realise that Prongs, now butt out!' shouted Sirius before firing off a trio of _Confringo_ curses, leaving behind an area of smoking debris where Harry stood only moments before.

Not having time to react to the apparent obliteration of his godson, Sirius felt a burning sensation in his left thigh, and turned to see his godson grinning lopsidedly at him having just fired a cutting hex.

'Come on Padfoot, you've gotta be able to do better than that! You've not even started using any of the darker spells I know you know!'

Sirius slashed his wand forward with an audible growl, sending forth a white hot light towards Harry, whose eyes widened before he too slashed his wand, countering the light with a curse of his own.

Before Harry could do anything else, he was put on the defensive by Sirius who kept on sending curse after curse at his godson, filling the dome with multiple jets of light every second, leaving Harry to either duck, dodge or attempt to shield against the onslaught of curses.

Eventually, Sirius stopped firing spells and stood, panting slightly, with a dark glint in his shining grey eyes. The rest of the onlookers stood in amazement at the amount of magic they had just witnessed, only to be even more shocked as the dust cleared to see Harry standing before his godfather smiling, with not a hair out of place and the faint glimmer of a shield in front of him.

Without a moments hesitation, both duellists slashed their wands forwards and simultaneously began to cast spell after spell, curse after curse at one another, decimating the surrounding area and doing nothing but matching eachothers power. Eventually Sirius true persona shone through, just as Harry knew it would once provoked, and without a second thought, he flicked his wand towards Harry and bellowed '_Avada Kedavra!'_

The families eyes widened, shocked that Sirius would cast such a curse at Harry before anger and betrayal set in, and hurt.

However before they could begin to take down the shield to get to either of them, Harry stunned them all by standing in the curses path, and negating the curse whilst incanting '_Veneficis Contego'_

Then, with a glint of red in his eyes, he thrust his wand forwards and fired what appeared to be a burst of lightning at his shocked godfather, who ducked out of the way straight into Harry's follow-up _Expelliarmus_.

Deftly catching his godfather's wand in his hand, he strode to where Sirius now sat, laughing his head off, and handed him back his wand before helping him to his feet.

With a wave of his hand, the shield surrounding their duel shattered into a million pieces, and all damage to the garden was repaired.

The duo looked at eachother, then at the rest of the family, before falling into hysterical laughter at the event. Minutes later, James walked over to Sirius and hit him across the back of the head 'Never send a cure like that at my Son again you hear me?! Even if it wouldn't have any effect, it's still unsettling!'

'Sorry Prongs, I don't know what came over me!'

'I do' interjected Harry 'It's the dark blood in you, your family has tainted its blood with dark magic, hence it being so easy for you to cast it. It also means that you are always going to have a stronger attachment to the dark than most, which strangely enough will benefit us most profitably for the future.'

'What do you mean? It never affected me before?'

'Sirius, there was one duel that you fought past your Majority in the other timeline, and that was at the Ministry! You surely cant stand there and expect me to believe you think that all the curses you fired in that fight were light?'

'well, no' smiled Sirius sheepishly 'But still!'

'As I said, being dark is no bad thing, especially with what I have planned this time around… It will surely make things easier in the long term'

At this Harry smiled, the red glint in his eyes slowly fading into the familiar shade of emerald…


End file.
